Rally: About a month after the shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School, in Newtown, Conn., people rallied for gun control in Washington, D.C. Getty Images

Written by

Gabrielle Giffords

It was last April -- mere months after the senseless slaughter of 20 children at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn. -- that a minority of senators blocked legislation that would have made it harder for criminals and people with dangerous mental illnesses to get their hands on deadly firearms.

Given the opportunity to stand up to the gun lobby by supporting legislation favored by two-thirds of Americans, these senators did what all politicians do when they fear upsetting powerful interests: They voted for the status quo.